Guidance processing apparatus and guidance method

ABSTRACT

A guidance processing apparatus (100) includes an information acquisition unit (101) that acquires a plurality of different pieces of guidance information on the basis of states of a plurality of people within one or more images, and a control unit (102) that performs control of a plurality of target devices present in different spaces or time division control of a target device so as to set a plurality of different states corresponding to the plurality of pieces of guidance information.

The present invention relates to a technique for guiding a crowd on thebasis of information obtained by image analysis. Hereinafter, the term“crowd” as used herein refers to a plurality of people who are presentin any space range. The number of people included in the crowd is notparticularly limited as long as the number of people is plural, and thesize of the space range is not also limited.

BACKGROUND ART

Patent Document 1 mentioned below proposes a customer guidance method inwhich a location where the number of people is smallest is set to be aguidance destination, a guidance robot is disposed at an inlet of apassage connected to the location, and bargain information of theguidance destination is displayed on the guidance robot and is output asa voice. According to the customer guidance method, it is possible toguide a shopper from a crowded place to an uncrowded place.

Patent Document 2 mentioned below proposes a system that provides anadvertisement or music that is most effective for people in each sectionof a passage. In this system, a surveillance camera, a display monitor,a speaker, and the like are disposed for each section of a passage, andpieces of information regarding the number of people and attributes(male, female, child, and the like) in each section are obtained from animage captured by the surveillance camera. The most effectiveadvertisement and music are provided from the display monitor and thespeaker in each section on the basis of the pieces of information. Whenthe system determines that there are a small number of people passingthrough a passage, the system plays comfortable music to guide thepeople into the passage.

Patent Document 3 mentioned below proposes a monitoring device thatdetects the number of people passing through a specific region and adirection of the passing with a high level of accuracy. Further, it isdescribed that a plurality of devices calculating the degree ofcrowdedness in a room are installed inside a building to make a visitorknow a room with a low degree of crowdedness.

RELATED DOCUMENT Patent Document

-   [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.    2008-132568-   [Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.    2007-34585-   [Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.    H9-138241

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-described guidance methods are merely to guide a specificcrowd, such as people in a crowded place or new visitors, into a certainplace such as a vacant place (a room, a passage, or the like). However,in such methods, a place being guidance destination immediately becomescrowded, and thus there is the possibility that a crowd cannot beappropriately guided.

The present invention is contrived in view of such situations, and anobject thereof is to provide a technique for appropriately guiding acrowd.

In aspects of the present invention, the following configurations areadopted in order to solve the above-described problems.

A first aspect relates to a guidance processing apparatus. The guidanceprocessing apparatus according to the first aspect includes aninformation acquisition unit acquiring a plurality of different piecesof guidance information on the basis of states of a plurality of peoplewithin one or more images, and a control unit that performing control ofa plurality of target devices present in different spaces or timedivision control of a target device so as to set a plurality ofdifferent states corresponding to the plurality of pieces of guidanceinformation.

A second aspect relates to a guidance method performed by at least onecomputer. The guidance method according to the second aspect includesacquiring a plurality of different pieces of guidance information on thebasis of states of a plurality of people within one or more images, andperforming control of a plurality of target devices present in differentspaces or time division control of a target device so as to set aplurality of different states corresponding to the plurality of piecesof guidance information.

Meanwhile, another aspect of the present invention may be a programcausing at least one computer to perform the method according to thesecond aspect, or may be a computer-readable recording medium having theprogram stored thereon. The recording medium includes a non-transitorytangible medium.

According to the above-described aspects, it is possible to provide atechnique for appropriately guiding a crowd.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-described objects, other objects, features and advantages willbe further apparent from the preferred embodiments described below, andthe accompanying drawings as follows.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system configuration of aguidance system according to a first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing examples of an installation mode ofsurveillance cameras and display devices.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to the firstexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in astorage unit according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of operation of the guidanceprocessing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance camerasand display devices according to Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance camerasand display devices according to Example 2.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance camerasand display devices according to Example 3.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance camerasand display devices according to Example 4.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to a secondexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of operation of the guidanceprocessing apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillancecameras and display devices according to a third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to the thirdexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example of operation of the guidanceprocessing apparatus according to the third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to a fourthexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing an example of operation related to achange in guidance information of the guidance processing apparatusaccording to the fourth exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to amodification example.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of a guidance processing apparatus according to a fifthexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing an example of operation of the guidanceprocessing apparatus according to the fifth exemplary embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed. Meanwhile, the exemplary embodiments described below aremerely illustrative of the present invention, and the present inventionis not limited to the configurations of the following exemplaryembodiments.

First Exemplary Embodiment

Hereinafter, a guidance system and a guidance method according to afirst exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to aplurality of drawings.

System Configuration

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system configuration of aguidance system 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment. As shownin FIG. 1, the guidance system 1 includes a guidance processingapparatus 10, a plurality of surveillance cameras 5, a plurality ofdisplay devices 6, and the like. A target device in the first exemplaryembodiment is a display device 6.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 is a so-called computer, andincludes a central processing unit (CPU) 2, a memory 3, a communicationunit 4, and the like that are connected to each other through a bus, asshown in FIG. 1. The memory 3 is a random access memory (RAM), a readonly memory (ROM), or an auxiliary storage device (hard disk or thelike). The communication unit 4 communicates with another computerthrough a communication network (not shown), and transmits and receivesa signal to and from another device. A portable recording medium and thelike can be connected to the communication unit 4. The guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 may include a hardware element not shown in FIG.1, and a hardware configuration of the guidance processing apparatus 10is not limited.

Each of the surveillance cameras 5 is installed at a position and in adirection from which any place to be monitored can be imaged, andtransmits an imaged video signal to the guidance processing apparatus10. Hereinafter, a place imaged by the surveillance cameras 5 may bereferred to as a monitored place or a target area. The number ofsurveillance cameras 5 is arbitrary. The surveillance cameras 5 arecommunicably connected to the guidance processing apparatus 10 through,for example, the communication unit 4. A communication mode and aconnection mode between the surveillance cameras 5 and the guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 are not limited.

Each of the display devices 6 displays a screen, such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, whichcorresponds to drawing data. The display device 6 can receive drawingdata processed by the CPU 2, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (notshown), or the like included in the guidance processing apparatus 10from the guidance processing apparatus 10 to display the screencorresponding to the drawing data. In addition, the display device 6including a CPU or a GPU can process drawing data on the basis of datatransmitted from the guidance processing apparatus 10 and can display ascreen. A communication mode and a connection mode between the displaydevices 6 and the guidance processing apparatus 10 are not limited.Hereinafter, a range in which a person can visually perceive the displayof each of the display devices 6 may be referred to as a display spaceof each of the display devices 6.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing examples of an installation mode of thesurveillance cameras 5 and the display devices 6. As described above,the surveillance cameras 5 image different monitored places. In theexamples of FIG. 2, a surveillance camera 5 (#1) images an area AR1, asurveillance camera 5 (#2) images an area AR2, a surveillance camera 5(#3) images an area AR3, and a surveillance camera 5 (#4) images an areaAR4. A video signal imaged by each of the surveillance cameras 5 istransmitted to the guidance processing apparatus 10. In the examples ofFIG. 2, the display devices 6 are installed at the respective monitoredplaces in order to provide guidance information to a person being ineach monitored place of the surveillance camera 5. In the examples ofFIG. 2, a display device 6 (#1) provides guidance information to aperson in the area AR1, a display device 6 (#2) provides guidanceinformation to a person in the area AR2, a display device 6 (#3)provides guidance information to a person in the area AR3, a displaydevice 6 (#4) provides guidance information to a person in the area AR4.According to the examples of FIG. 2, the areas AR1 to AR4 are handled asmonitored places and display spaces. Here, installation modes of thesurveillance cameras 5 and the display devices 6 are not limited to theexamples shown in FIG. 2. Portions of monitored places may overlap eachother for the plurality of surveillance cameras 5. In addition, theremay exist a monitored place in which the display device 6 is notinstalled, and the display device 6 may be installed for people being ina plurality of monitored places. Further, the display device 6 may beinstalled in a place other than a monitored place.

Processing Configuration

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to thefirst exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the guidance processingapparatus 10 includes an image acquisition unit 11, an analysis unit 12,a storage unit 13, an information acquisition unit 14, a control unit15, and the like. For example, each of these processing units isrealized by executing a program stored in the memory 3 with the CPU 2.In addition, the program may be installed from a portable recordingmedium, such as a compact disc (CD) or a memory card, or anothercomputer on a network through the communication unit 4 or an input andoutput I/F (not shown), and may be stored in the memory 3.

The image acquisition unit 11 acquires surveillance images captured bythe respective surveillance cameras 5. Specifically, the imageacquisition unit 11 captures a video signal applied from thesurveillance camera 5 at any timing to thereby sequentially acquiresurveillance images. The any timing is, for example, a predeterminedperiod of time.

The analysis unit 12 analyzes a plurality of images obtained bycapturing different target areas (monitored places) to thereby acquirestates of a plurality of people in the respective target areas. Theanalysis unit 12 stores the acquired states in the storage unit 13.

The analysis unit 12 analyzes surveillance images, corresponding to therespective surveillance cameras 5, which are acquired by the imageacquisition unit 11. Specifically, the analysis unit 12 detects peoplefrom the surveillance images using a well-known image recognitionmethod. For example, the analysis unit 12 can hold feature data of animage describing a detection range of a person, and can detect a regionin a surveillance image similar to the feature data as the detectionrange. However, a person detection method is not limited. The analysisunit 12 may detect the whole body of a person, or may detect a portionof a person such as the head, the face, the upper half of the body, orthe like. Alternatively, the analysis unit 12 may collectively detect acrowd instead of detecting individual people. In this case, the analysisunit 12 can detect a crowd constituted by a plurality of people as agroup without separating the crowd into individual people.

The analysis unit 12 acquires the state of a crowd within a surveillanceimage using results of the above-described detection of people withrespect to the surveillance image. The analysis unit 12 can acquires thenumber of people, density, the degree of crowdedness, a moving speed, amoving direction, a flow rate, the presence or absence of a queue, thelength of a queue, a waiting time of a queue, a speed at which a queueadvances, the presence or absence of staying, a staying time, the numberof staving people, the degree of dissatisfaction, an abnormal state, andthe like, as the state of the crowd. The density is a value obtained bydividing the number of people by the largeness of the place imaged inthe surveillance image. The degree of crowdedness is an index valueindicating the degree of crowdedness of people being in a monitoredplace, and may be indicated by a value obtained by calculation using atleast one of the number of people, the density, and both the number ofpeople and the density. For example, the analysis unit 12 can estimatethe number of people within a surveillance image using a crowd patchwith a high level of accuracy.

The moving speed and the moving direction of the crowd can be acquiredby measuring the movement of pixels between time-series surveillanceimages using a well-known technique such as object (person) tracking oroptical flow. The flow rate can be calculated by multiplying a movingspeed by the number of people. In addition, the analysis unit 12 canalso acquire the presence or absence of a queue, the length of a queue,the presence or absence of staying, a staying time, and the number ofstaying people by using a well-known staying detection method. Further,the analysis unit 12 can acquire a waiting time of a queue, and a speedat which a queue advances in combination with a technique such as theabove-described tracking.

The analysis unit 12 can acquire the degree of dissatisfaction of acrowd by using a staying time, the length of a queue, a waiting time ofa queue, and the like. For example, it can be estimated that the degreeof dissatisfaction of a crowd becomes higher as a staying time becomeslonger, as a queue becomes longer, or as a waiting time of a queuebecomes longer. In addition, the analysis unit 12 can estimate a look oran attitude on the basis of a person image region detected from asurveillance image, and can determine the degree of dissatisfaction fromthe estimated information. For example, in a case where a frown, anangry look, the raising of an arm, and the like are detected from theperson image region, it can be estimated that the degree ofdissatisfaction of the crowd is high. In addition, the analysis unit 12can detect a change in the state of the crowd, and can detect anabnormal state of the crowd on the basis of the detected change in thestate. For example, the analysis unit 12 can detects state such assquatting, turning around, and starting running, and can acquire thedegree of abnormality of the crowd on the basis of the number of peoplecausing the change.

The storage unit 13 stores identification information (ID) of thesurveillance camera 5 and the state of a crowd which is extracted fromsurveillance images captured by the surveillance camera 5 in associationwith each other. A relationship between the ID of the surveillancecamera 5 and the surveillance images can be recognized by the imageacquisition unit 11, which acquires the surveillance image. Thisrelationship and a relationship between surveillance images and thestate of the crowd acquired using the surveillance images (the analysisunit 12) enable to associate the ID of the surveillance camera 5 withthe state of the crowd. The storage unit 13 also further stores arelationship between the ID of the surveillance camera 5 and informationindicating a monitored place of the surveillance camera 5. The storageunit 13 may store a positional relationship (a distance, an averagemoving time, and the like) between monitored places.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in thestorage unit 13 according to the first exemplary embodiment. As shown inFIG. 4, the storage unit 13 may store information indicating a monitoredplace of the surveillance camera 5 and the state of the crowd inassociation with each other. In the example of FIG. 4, the degree ofcrowdedness indicated by a numerical value is used as the state of thecrowd. Alternatively, each monitored place may be divided into smallerareas, and the degree of crowdedness may be stored in units of areasdivided.

Further, the storage unit 13 stores identification information (ID) ofthe display device 6 and information indicating a location of a displayspace showing a range in which a person can visually perceive thedisplay of the display device 6, in association with each other. Thestorage unit 13 may store a positional relationship (a distance, anaverage moving time, and the like) between the place of the displayspace and a monitored place.

On the basis of the state of the crowd in each monitored place acquiredby the analysis unit 12, the information acquisition unit 14 generatespieces of guidance information corresponding to a positionalrelationship between monitored places, between display spaces of therespective display devices 6, and between each of the display spaces oreach of the monitored places. For example, the information acquisitionunit 14 generates guidance information corresponding to a positionalrelationship between monitored places in a case where a monitored placeof each of the surveillance camera 5 and a display space of each of thedisplay devices 6 substantially coincide with each other as shown inFIG. 2. The information acquisition unit 14 generates guidanceinformation corresponding to a positional relationship between thedisplay spaces or between each of the display spaces and each of themonitored places in a case where each monitored place and each displayspace are different from each other. Note that, a specific example ofthe generation of guidance information corresponding to a positionalrelationship between monitored places or a positional relationshipbetween each of the display spaces and each of the monitored places willbe described in detail in the term of Example.

The positional relationship includes a distance, directivity, a requiredmoving time, and the like. The information acquisition unit 14 canacquire the positional relationship from the storage unit 13. Theinformation acquisition unit 14 can also calculate a positionalrelationship from information indicating monitored places stored in thestorage unit 13 and information indicating monitored places. Forexample, the distance may be stored in advance. The average moving timemay be stored in the storage unit 13 in advance, or may be calculatedusing a moving speed of a crowd which is acquired by the analysis unit12.

Conceptually, in a case where there exists a monitored place indicatingan abnormal state of the crowd, the information acquisition unit 14generates pieces of guidance information so that the state of the crowdof the monitored place become indicating a normal state. In addition, ina case where only a specific monitored place is severely different fromthe other monitored places as to the state of the crowd, the informationacquisition unit 14 generates pieces of guidance information so that thestate of the crowd become equalized.

In addition, the display devices 6 that are to display respective piecesof guidance information are also determined.

In the first exemplary embodiment, since guidance information isdisplayed by the display device 6, the guidance information isinformation indicating a guidance destination, information for promotingsuspension, information indicating crowdedness conditions, and the like.Since a presentation of crowdedness conditions makes people avoid goingto a place with a high degree of crowdedness, information indicating thecrowdedness conditions may be handled as guidance information. As longas the guidance information is of capable of moving or suspending peopleas intended by the guidance system 1, the contents thereof are notlimited. For example, the information capable of suspending people mayinclude information for arousing interest to make people desire to stayin the place, such as music, a video, or information regarding anon-sale store. In addition, a time-limited discount coupon capable ofbeing used in a specific store may also be an example of guidanceinformation capable of making people stay in the specific store. It ispreferable that pieces of guidance information having different contentsare included in a plurality of pieces of guidance information generatedby the information acquisition unit 14.

The control unit 15 displays pieces of guidance information on therespective display devices 6, on the basis of a correspondence relationbetween guidance information determined by the information acquisitionunit 14 and the display device 6. In a case where pieces of guidanceinformation are generated for all of the display devices 6, the controlunit 15 displays the pieces of guidance information on all of thedisplay devices 6. In a case where guidance information is generated forsome of the display devices 6, the control unit 15 displays the piecesof guidance information on the some of the display devices 6. Thecontrol unit 15 can instruct the communication unit 4 to transmitguidance information to the display device 6, to thereby realize thedisplay control of the display device 6. In addition, the control unit15 can generate drawing data of guidance information and can alsoinstruct the communication unit 4 to transmit the drawing data to thedisplay device 6.

Example of Operation/Guidance Method

Hereinafter, the guidance method according to the first exemplaryembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of operation of the guidance processingapparatus 10 according to the first exemplary embodiment. As shown inFIG. 5, the guidance method according to the first exemplary embodimentis realized by at least one computer such as the guidance processingapparatus 10. For example, steps shown in the figure are performed byprocessing units included in the guidance processing apparatus 10. Thesteps have contents that are the same as contents of the processing ofthe above-described processing units included in the guidance processingapparatus 10, and thus details of the steps will appropriately not berepeated here.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires surveillance imagescaptured by the respective surveillance cameras 5 (S51). The guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 sequentially acquired the surveillance images intime series. The surveillance images are images obtained by capturing atarget area (target monitored place) by the respective surveillancecameras 5.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 analyzes the surveillance imagesacquired in (S51) to thereby acquire the state of the crowd in thetarget area (S52). A method of analyzing surveillance images, the stateof the crowd, and a method of acquiring the state of the crowd are asdescribed above.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires a positional relationshipbetween target areas, between display spaces of the respective displaydevices 6, or between each of the display spaces and each of the targetareas, on the basis of the state of the crowd in each of the targetareas acquired in (S52) (S53).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 generates pieces of guidanceinformation corresponding to the positional relationship acquired in(S53) on the basis of the state of the crowd in each of the target areasacquired in (S52) (S54). At this time, the guidance processing apparatus10 determines the display device 6 that displays each piece of guidanceinformation. The guidance processing apparatus 10 generates pieces ofguidance information to be displayed on all of the display devices 6 orsome of the display devices 6.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 displays the pieces of guidanceinformation generated in (S54) on the respective display devices 6(S55). Thereby, all of the display devices 6 or some of the displaydevices 6 display guidance information.

Advantageous Effects According to First Exemplary Embodiment

As described above, in the first exemplary embodiment, a plurality ofsurveillance images obtained by capturing target areas (monitoredplaces) by the respective surveillance cameras 5 are acquired, and thestate of the crowd in each of the target areas is acquired by analysisperformed on each of the surveillance images. On the basis of the stateof the crowd in each of the target areas, pieces of guidance informationcorresponding to a positional relationship between target areas, betweendisplay spaces of the respective display devices 6, or between each ofthe display spaces and each of the target areas are generated. And, thepieces of guidance information are respectively displayed by thecorresponding display devices 6.

According to the first exemplary embodiment, it is possible to generateguidance information by adding the state of the crowd in a plurality ofplaces (target areas). Further, it is possible to generate a pluralityof pieces of guidance information corresponding to a positionalrelationship between the plurality of place (target area) about whichthe state of the crowd is acquired, between spaces in which guidanceinformation is provided, or between each of the places and each of thespaces. Thereby, it is possible to provide different guidanceinformation depending on a positional relationship with other places,for each display space. That is, according to the first exemplaryembodiment, it is possible to guide a crowd using an appropriate methodfor each place, to eliminate a place in which the state of the crowdindicates an abnormal state, and to equalize the state of the crowd.

Hereinafter, in order to describe the first exemplary embodiment in moredetail, a plurality of examples will be described. However, the contentsof the above-described first exemplary embodiment are not limited tocontents of the following examples.

Example 1

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance cameras5 and display devices 6 according to Example 1.

A guidance system 1 according to Example 1 appropriately guides usergroups of ticket vending machines.

Each surveillance camera 5 images people lined up in front of eachticket vending machine. A surveillance camera 5 (#1) images a monitoredplace AR1 in front of a ticket vending machine M1, a surveillance camera5 (#2) images a monitored place AR2 in front of a ticket vending machineM2, a surveillance camera 5 (#3) images a monitored place AR3 in frontof a ticket vending machine M3, and a surveillance camera 5 (#4) imagesa monitored place AR4 in front of a ticket vending machine M4. Thedisplay space of a display device 6 (#1) is a space including themonitored places AR1 and AR2, the display space of a display device 6(#2) is a space including the monitored place AR3, the display space ofa display device 6 (#3) is a space including the monitored place AR4,and the display space of display devices 6 (#4) and 6 (#5) is a passagedirected to the ticket vending machines.

In Example 1, an image acquisition unit 11 acquires a plurality ofsurveillance images obtained by capturing the monitored places AR1 toAR4. An analysis unit 12 analyzes the plurality of surveillance imagesto thereby acquire the degrees of crowdedness in the monitored placesAR1 to AR4 as the state of the crowd. According to the example of FIG.6, a high degree of crowdedness is acquired with respect to themonitored place AR3, and a low degree of crowdedness is acquired withrespect to the monitored places AR1, AR2, and AR4.

Since the degree of crowdedness in the monitored place AR3 is high, aninformation acquisition unit 14 specifies the monitored place AR1 inwhich the degree of crowdedness is low and which is closest to themonitored place AR3 as a positional relationship between monitoredplaces. This has the same meaning as specifying the ticket vendingmachine M1, which is closest to the ticket vending machine M3 and is notcrowded. Thereby, the information acquisition unit 14 generates, as theguidance information for the display device 6 (#2) that includes themonitored place AR3 having a high degree of crowdedness in the displayspace, information for guiding to the ticket vending machine M1corresponding to the monitored place AR1. For example, the guidanceinformation indicates the ticket vending machine M1 being vacant, adirection of moving from the monitored place AR3 to the ticket vendingmachine M1, and a required moving time thereof.

Further, as a positional relationship between a display space and amonitored place, the information acquisition unit 14 specifies themonitored place AR2 which is closest to the display space of the displaydevice 6 (#4) and has a low degree of crowdedness, and specifies themonitored place AR4 which is closest to the display space of the displaydevice 6 (#5) and has a low degree of crowdedness. This is the samemeaning as specifying a ticket vending machine which is closest to acertain passage and is not crowded. Thereby, the information acquisitionunit 14 generates information for guiding to the ticket vending machineM2 corresponding to the monitored place AR2 as guidance information forthe display device 6 (#4), and generates information for guiding to theticket vending machine M4 corresponding to the monitored place AR4 asguidance information for the display device 6 (#5).

The control unit 15 displays the generated pieces of guidanceinformation on the display devices 6 (#2), 6 (#4), and 6 (#5). Thereby,the display device 6 (#2) displays information for guiding to the ticketvending machine M1. As a result, people lined up in front of the ticketvending machine M3 recognize the presence of the nearby ticket vendingmachine M1 that is vacant, and would move in order to use the ticketvending machine M1. Therefore, it is possible to solve crowdedness infront of the ticket vending machine M3. In addition, the display device6 (#4) displays information for guiding to the ticket vending machineM2, and the display device 6 (#5) displays information for guiding tothe ticket vending machine M4. Accordingly, it is possible to directpeople being about to use a ticket vending machine to a vacant ticketvending machine, and to equalize the degree of crowdedness in front ofeach ticket vending machine.

The contents of Example 1 can be applied to various places, such as arestroom, a kiosk, and a ticket gate, other than a ticket vendingmachine.

Example 2

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance cameras5 and display devices 6 according to Example 2.

A guidance system 1 according to Example 2 appropriately guides a crowdwho leaves a certain event hall (soccer stadium in the example of FIG.7).

In Example 2, surveillance cameras 5 (#1) and 5 (#2) image people whouse stations ST1 and ST2. The stations ST1 and ST2 are stations that areused by people who leave the hall. In Example 2, monitored places of therespective surveillance cameras 5 are not particularly limited as longas the degree of crowdedness in each of the stations ST1 and ST2 can berecognized from the monitored places. In the following description, themonitored place of the surveillance camera 5 (#1) is denoted by ST1, andthe monitored place of the surveillance camera 5 (#2) is denoted by ST2.

The display device 6 is provided for each section of seats in order toshow pieces of guidance information to visitors of the hall. A displaydevice 6 (#1) includes a seat section DS1 in a display section, adisplay device 6 (#2) includes a seat section DS2 in a display section,a display device 6 (#3) includes a seat section DS3 in a displaysection, and a display device 6 (#4) includes a seat section DS4 in adisplay section.

Each of the seat sections is provided with an exit, and people who seatin each of the seat sections leave from the hall through the exitprovided to the seat section. Specifically, the seat section DS1 isprovided with the exit E1, the seat section DS2 is provided with theexits E2 and E3, the seat section DS3 is provided with the exit E4, andthe seat section DS4 is provided with the exits E5 and E6.

In Example 2, an image acquisition unit 11 acquires a plurality ofsurveillance images obtained by capturing the monitored places ST1 andST2. An analysis unit 12 analyzes the plurality of surveillance imagesto thereby acquire the degrees of crowdedness in the monitored placesST1 and ST2 as the state of the crowd. Here, suppose that a high degreeof crowdedness is acquired for the monitored place ST1, and a low degreeof crowdedness is acquired for the monitored place ST2.

An information acquisition unit 14 acquires a distance between themonitored place ST2 and each display space and a distance between themonitored place ST1 and each display space, as a positional relationshipbetween a display space and a monitored place. At this time, theposition of the exit provided to the seat section included in eachdisplay space is used for the position of each of the display spaces.Further, the information acquisition unit 14 calculates the magnitude(absolute value) of a difference between the distance to the monitoredplace ST1 and the distance to the monitored place ST2 with respect toeach display space.

The information acquisition unit 14 specifies a display space closer tothe monitored place ST2 than the monitored place ST1 because the degreeof crowdedness in the monitored place ST1 is high and the degree ofcrowdedness in the monitored place ST2 is low. Here, suppose that theseat section DS3 is specified. Thereby, the information acquisition unit14 generates information for guiding to the station of the monitoredplace ST2 as guidance information for the display device 6 (#3). Sinceeach of the seat sections DS2 and DS4 is provided with two exits, it isassumed that the same proximity to either of the stations is determined.However, since the degree of crowdedness in the monitored place ST1 ishigh, the information acquisition unit 14 generates information forguiding to the station of the monitored place ST2 having a low degree ofcrowdedness, as guidance information for the display devices 6 (#2) and6 (#4).

On the other hand, since a display space including the seat section DS1is relatively close to the monitored place ST1, the informationacquisition unit 14 determines whether or not a difference in distanceexceeds a predetermined value. The information acquisition unit 14generates information for guiding to the station of the monitored placeST1 having a high degree of crowdedness because the difference indistance exceeds the predetermined value. However, regarding a displayspace relatively close to the monitored place ST1 with a high degree ofcrowdedness, a guidance destination may be determined on the basis of abalance of the number of people for each guidance destination instead ofbeing determined on the basis of the difference in distance. Theinformation acquisition unit 14 may include the degrees of crowdednessof the stations ST1 and ST2, and the distance and the required movingtime from the corresponding seat section to each station, in guidanceinformation.

The control unit 15 displays the generated pieces of guidanceinformation on the display devices 6 (#1) to 6 (#4). Thereby, thedisplay device 6 (#1) displays information for guiding to the stationST1, and the display devices 6 (#2) to 6 (#4) display information forguiding to the station ST2. By doing so, it is possible to prevent acrowd leaving a hall from gathering to any one station. In addition, ina method of presenting a vacant station ST2 to all visitors, there mayalso be the possibility that the station ST2 is distant for visitorsseating in the seat section DS1, or that the station ST2 is crowed whenthe visitors reach the station. However, according to Example 2, it ispossible to appropriately guide the crowds since guidance information isgenerated taking into account a positional relationship between the seatsection of the hall and the station.

Example 3

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance cameras5 and display devices 6 according to Example 3.

A guidance system 1 in Example 3 appropriately guides a crowd who waitsfor a train at a platform of a station.

In Example 3, each of the surveillance cameras 5 images the inside ofeach vehicle of a target train as a monitored place. Specifically, asurveillance camera 5 (#1) images the inside of a vehicle VH1, asurveillance camera 5 (#2) images the inside of a vehicle VH2, and asurveillance camera 5 (#3) images the inside of a vehicle VH3. In thefollowing description, monitored places of the respective surveillancecameras 5 (#1) to 5 (#3) are denoted by VH1 to VH3, respectively.

Each of the display devices 6 includes a getting-on position for eachvehicle at the platform in a display space. The display space of adisplay device 6 (#1) includes a getting-on position RP1 of a vehicleVH1, the display space of a display device 6 (#2) includes a getting-onposition RP2 of a vehicle VH2, and the display space of a display device6 (#3) includes a getting-on position RP3 of a vehicle VH3. In thefollowing description, the display spaces of the respective displaydevices 6 (#1) to 6 (#3) are denoted by RP1 to RP3, respectively.

In Example 3, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires a plurality ofsurveillance images obtained by capturing the monitored places VH1 toVH3. The analysis unit 12 analyzes the plurality of surveillance imagesto thereby acquire the degrees of crowdedness in the respectivemonitored places VH1 to VH3 as the state of the crowd. Here, supposethat a low degree of crowdedness is acquired with respect to themonitored places VH1 and VH2, and a high degree of crowdedness isacquired with respect to the monitored place VH3.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires a correspondence relationbetween each monitored place and each display space on the basis of acorrespondence relation between each vehicle and a getting-on positionfor each vehicle. Specifically, the information acquisition unit 14recognizes correspondence between the monitored place VH1 and thedisplay space RP1, correspondence between the monitored place VH2 andthe display space RP2, and correspondence between the monitored placeVH3 and the display space RP3. Further, the information acquisition unit14 recognizes that the display space PR3 is closer to the display spacePR2 than the display space PR1, as a positional relationship between thedisplay spaces.

Thereby, the information acquisition unit 14 generates information forguiding to the getting-on position PR2 that has the lowest degree ofcrowdedness and is closest thereto, as guidance information for thedisplay device 6 (#3) of the getting-on position (display space) PR3 ofthe vehicle (monitored place) VH3 with a high degree of crowdedness. Forexample, the guidance information indicates information indicating thevehicle VH2 being empty and the getting-on position PR2 of the vehicles.Further, since the information acquisition unit 14 generates informationfor guiding from the getting-on position PR3 to the getting-on positionPR2, the information acquisition unit may generate information forguiding to the getting-on position PR1 that has the lowest degree ofcrowdedness and is closest thereto, as guidance information for thedisplay device 6 (#2) of the getting-on position PR2.

A control unit 15 displays the generated guidance information on thedisplay device 6 (#3). Thereby, the display device 6 (#3) displaysinformation for guiding to the getting-on position PR2. Thereby, it ispossible to prevent passengers from gathering to a certain vehicle andto aim for the equalization of the number of passengers for eachvehicle. Further, in a case where guidance information for the displaydevice 6 (#2) is also generated, the display device 6 (#2) can displayinformation for guiding to the getting-on position PR1. Thereby, peoplewould move from the getting-on position PR3 to the getting-on positionPR2 on the basis of the guidance information displayed on the displaydevice 6 (#3), and thus it is possible to further prevent the vehicleVH2 from being crowded.

In the example of FIG. 8, the surveillance cameras 5 may image thegetting-on positions PR1 to PR3 at the platform as monitored places. Inthis case, the analysis unit 12 can analyze surveillance images of therespective getting-on positions to thereby acquire left-behindconditions in the monitored places RP1 to RP3 as the state of the crowd.The analysis unit 12 estimates, as a left-behind condition, a conditionof each getting-on position at which not all of the passengers get onthe train in spite of the train coming. For example, the analysis unit12 calculates a difference between the degrees of crowdedness at therespective getting-on position immediately before a train stops andimmediately after the train departs, and determines the difference or avalue calculated from the difference to be a left-behind condition. Thedifference becomes smaller as the number of people who can get on thetrain becomes smaller, and therefore the left-behind condition iscalculated as larger value. Further, the analysis unit 12 may determinea left-behind condition by measuring the movement of a queue and inconsideration of how much the queue moves forward.

In this case, the information acquisition unit 14 generates guidanceinformation taking a left-behind condition at each getting-on positioninto account as an alternative to or in addition to the degree ofcrowdedness in each vehicle. In addition, in the example of FIG. 8, eachof the display devices 6 may include each getting-on position in adisplay space, together with or instead of the inside of each vehicle.

Example 4

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillance cameras5 and display devices 6 according to Example 4.

A guidance system 1 according to Example 4 appropriately guides a crowd(passengers) who are getting on a train.

In Example 4, each of the surveillance cameras 5 images each ticket gatein a station as the monitored place. Specifically, a surveillance camera5 (#1) images the vicinity of a ticket gate TG1, a surveillance camera 5(#2) images the vicinity of a ticket gate TG2, and a surveillance camera5 (#3) images the vicinity of a ticket gate TG3. In the followingdescription, the monitored places of the respective surveillance cameras5 (#1), 5 (#2), and 5 (#3) are denoted by TG1, TG2, and TG3,respectively.

The display space of each display device 6 includes the inside of eachvehicle of a train. The display space of the display device 6 (#1) isthe inside of a vehicle VH1, the display space of the display device 6(#2) is the inside of a vehicle VH2, the display space of the displaydevice 6 (#3) is the inside of a vehicle VH3, the display space of thedisplay device 6 (#4) is the inside of a vehicle VH4, and the displayspace of the display device 6 (#5) is the inside of a vehicle VH5. Inthe following description, the display spaces of the respective displaydevices 6 (#1) to 6 (#5) are denoted by VH1 to VH5, respectively.

In Example 4, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires a plurality ofsurveillance images obtained by capturing the monitored places TG1 toTG3. The analysis unit 12 analyzes the plurality of surveillance imagesto thereby acquire the degrees of crowdedness in the monitored placesTG1 to TG3 as the state of the crowd. Here, suppose that a low degree ofcrowdedness is acquired with respect to the monitored places TG1 andTG3, and a high degree of crowdedness is acquired with respect to themonitored place TG2.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires a positional relationshipbetween each monitored place and each display space on the basis of thecorrespondence relation between each vehicle and a stopping position ofthe vehicle at a platform. Specifically, the information acquisitionunit 14 recognizes that the display spaces VH1 and VH2 are close to themonitored place TG1, the display spaces VH3 and VH4 are close to themonitored place TG2, and the display space VH5 is close to the monitoredplace TG3. Further, the information acquisition unit 14 recognizes thatthe display space VH2 is second closest to the monitored place TG2 nextto the monitored place TG1, the display space VH3 is second closest tothe monitored place TG1 next to the monitored place TG2, and the displayspace VH4 is second closest to the monitored place TG3 next to themonitored place TG2.

Thereby, the information acquisition unit 14 generates information forguiding to other vacant ticket gates, as guidance information for thedisplay devices 6 (#3) and 6 (#4) of the vehicles (display spaces) VH3and VH4 that stop in the vicinity of the ticket gate (monitored place)TG2 having the high degree of crowdedness. The information acquisitionunit 14 generates information for guiding to the second closest ticketgate TG1 next to the ticket gate TG2 as guidance information for thedisplay device 6 (#3), and generates information for guiding to thesecond closest ticket gate TG3 next to the ticket gate TG2 as guidanceinformation for the display device 6 (#4).

The control unit 15 displays the generated pieces of guidanceinformation on the display devices 6 (#3) and 6 (#4). Thereby, thedisplay device 6 (#3) displays information for guiding to the ticketgate TG1, and the display device 6 (#4) displays information for guidingto the ticket gate TG3. Thereby, it is possible to prevent people fromgathering to a certain specific ticket gate, and to distribute peoplepassing through each ticket gate as much as possible. Further, sinceguidance information is displayed within each vehicle, people canascertain the ticket gate to which they should go before getting off thevehicle, and thus it is possible to smoothly guide the crowd on theplatform.

In the example of FIG. 9, each of the surveillance cameras 5 can alsohandles a passage of the station as the monitored place, instead of ortogether with the ticket gate. Note that, although the described examplein FIG. 9 shows that guidance information is displayed on the displaydevice 6 within the vehicle, the control unit 15 may display guidanceinformation on a terminal carried by a passenger, such as a mobilephone, if it is possible to recognize on which vehicle the passengercurrently is. That is, the control unit 15 provides the portableterminal of a user with the information suitable for the vehicle (whichvehicle) on which the user is. Information regarding the vehicle onwhich each user is can be acquired from various sensors or a globalpositioning system (GPS) mounted on the portable terminal, can beacquired through the exchange of information between a device installedon the platform and the portable terminal, or the like.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

Hereinafter, the guidance system and the guidance method according tothe second exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to aplurality of drawings. Hereinafter, the second exemplary embodiment willbe described focusing on contents different from those of the firstexemplary embodiment, and the same contents as those in the firstexemplary embodiment will appropriately not be repeated. The followingcontents may be added to the contents of the above-described firstexemplary embodiment or may be replaced with the contents of the firstexemplary embodiment.

In the following description, a place for which the degree ofcrowdedness is acquired among monitored places captured by thesurveillance camera 5 is referred to as a goal area (equivalent to afirst target area), and a place through which people are likely to passto reach the goal area is referred to as a midway area (equivalent to asecond target area).

Processing Configuration

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to thesecond exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 further includes a prediction unit 17 inaddition to the configuration of the first exemplary embodiment. Theprediction unit 17 is realized in the same manner as other processingunits. In the example of FIG. 10, the prediction unit 17 is shown as aportion of the information acquisition unit 14, but may be realized as aprocessing unit which is separate from the information acquisition unit14.

The analysis unit 12 analyzes the surveillance image, obtained bycapturing the goal area, which is acquired by the image acquisition unit11 to thereby acquire the degree of crowdedness of people in the goalarea, and analyzes the image obtained by capturing the midway area tothereby acquire the flow rate of people in the midway area. Methods ofacquiring the flow rate and the degree of crowdedness are as describedabove. The analysis unit 12 may acquire the flow rate only with respectto people the moving direction of which indicates the direction towardsthe goal area, by estimating the moving direction of people in thesurveillance image of the midway area.

The storage unit 13 stores histories of the degree of crowdedness in thegoal area and the flow rate in the midway area that are acquired by theanalysis unit 12. Further, as the positional relationship between thedisplay space and the monitored place, the storage unit 13 stores thedistance between each display space and the goal area, or stores thetime required for a person to move from each display space to the goalarea.

The prediction unit 17 acquires a predicted degree of crowdedness ofpeople in a goal area at any point in time on the basis of the degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area and the flow rate in the midway area whichare acquired by the analysis unit 12. It is considered that the flowrate in the midway area obtained from the surveillance image captured ata certain time T describes the number of people reaching the goal areaafter the required time (ΔT) for moving from the midway area to the goalarea. Thereby, the prediction unit 17 can acquire a predicted degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area at any point in time, for example, asfollows. The prediction unit 17 learns a correlation between the degreeof crowdedness in the goal area obtained from the surveillance imagecaptured at a time (T+ΔT) and the flow rate in the midway area obtainedfrom the surveillance image captured at a time T, on the basis ofhistory data stored in the storage unit 13. The prediction unit 17generates a function f(t) for predicting the degree of crowdedness inthe goal area at any time t as the predicted degree of crowdedness onthe basis of the learning.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires, as the guidanceinformation for each display space, the predicted degree of crowdednessin the goal area at the point in time when a person in each displayspace will reach the goal area in the future, using each time requiredfor a person to move from the display space of each display device 6 tothe goal area and the predicted degree of crowdedness acquired by theprediction unit 17. For example, in a case where a function f(t) of thepredicted degree of crowdedness is obtained by the prediction unit 17,the information acquisition unit 14 can acquire the predicted degree ofcrowdedness f(tc+Δr) in a goal area using the current point in time tcand each required time Δr.

The information acquisition unit 14 may calculate each required timewith respect to each display space by using a moving speed acquired bythe analysis unit 12 together with a flow rate. In this case, theinformation acquisition unit 14 may acquire the distance from eachdisplay space to the goal area from the storage unit 13.

In addition, in a case where the midway area (monitored place) and thedisplay space coincides with each other, the information acquisitionunit 14 may further increase the predicted degree of crowdedness for thedisplay space coinciding with the midway area, on the basis of the flowrate acquired by the analysis unit 12 with respect to the midway area.For example, the information acquisition unit 14 handles, as eventualguidance information, a value obtained by multiplying a weight valuecorresponding to the flow rate by the predicted degree of crowdednesscalculated using the required time for moving from the midway area tothe goal area. For example, the information acquisition unit 14calculates f(tc+Δr)×(1.0+α) as guidance information using the value athat increases as the flow rate becomes higher. Accordingly, it ispossible to increase an effect of suppressing movement to the goal areain the display space.

The control unit 15 outputs the predicted degree of crowdedness in thegoal area acquired with respect to each display space, to each of thedisplay devices 6. Thereby, each of the display devices 6 displays thepredicted degree of crowdedness corresponding to the distance to thegoal area.

Example of Operation/Guidance Method

Hereinafter, the guidance method according to the second exemplaryembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is aflow chart showing an example of operation of the guidance processingapparatus 10 according to the second exemplary embodiment. The subjectof executing the guidance method according to the second exemplaryembodiment is the same as that in the first exemplary embodiment. Stepsare the same as contents of processing of the above-described processingunits included in the guidance processing apparatus 10, and thus detailsof the steps will be appropriately omitted here.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires surveillance imagescaptured by the surveillance cameras 5 (S111). The guidance processingapparatus 10 sequentially acquires the surveillance images in timeseries. The acquired surveillance images include an image obtained bycapturing the goal area and an image obtained by capturing a midwayarea.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 analyzes the surveillance images ofthe goal area acquired in (S111) to thereby acquire the degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area (S112). Further, the guidance processingapparatus 10 analyzes the surveillance images of the midway areaacquired in (S111) to thereby acquire the flow rate in the midway area(3113). A method of analyzing surveillance images and methods ofacquiring the degree of crowdedness and the flow rate as the state ofthe crowd are as described in the first exemplary embodiment.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires the predicted degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area at any point in time on the basis ofhistories of the degree of crowdedness in the goal area acquired in(S112) and the flow rate of the midway area acquired in (S113) (S114).

Further, the guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires a time requiredfor a person to move from the display area of each of the displaydevices 6 to the goal area (S115).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires the predicted degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area at the current point in time for eachdisplay space as guidance information, using the predicted degree ofcrowdedness at any point in time acquired in (S114) and the requiredtimes acquired in (S115) (S116). At this time, in a case where themidway area (monitored place) and the display space coincides with eachother, the guidance processing apparatus 10 may further increase thepredicted degree of crowdedness for the display space coinciding withthe midway area, on the basis of the flow rate acquired with respect tothe midway area in (S113).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 displays the predicted degrees ofcrowdedness acquired in (S116) on the respective display devices 6(S117).

In FIG. 11, a plurality of steps (processes) are shown in order, butsteps performed in the second exemplary embodiment and the order ofexecution of the steps are not limited to only those in the example ofFIG. 11. Steps (S112) and (S113) may be asynchronously performed at anytiming. In addition, (S114) may be executed in accordance with acondition in which a history is stored in the storage unit 13 withoutdepending on execution timings of (S111) to (S113). In addition, (S115)may be performed once as long as the positions of the display area andthe goal area do not change. Naturally, the required time may be changedin accordance with acquired speed information. In this case, (S115) maybe performed on a regular basis after (S112) and (S113) are performed.Further, (S116) and (S117) may be performed at any timing withoutdepending on execution timings of (S111) to (S115).

Advantageous Effects According to Second Exemplary Embodiment

As described above, in the second exemplary embodiment, the predicteddegree of crowdedness in the goal area at any point in time is acquiredfrom the history of the degree of crowdedness in the goal area acquiredfrom the surveillance images and the history of the flow rate of themidway area acquired from the surveillance images. The predicted degreeof crowdedness in the goal area in each display space is acquired on thebasis of the predicted degree of crowdedness at any point in time andthe time required for a person to move from each display area to thegoal area. The predicted degree of crowdedness in the goal area acquiredwith respect to the display space is displayed on each of the displaydevices 6.

Thereby, there is the possibility that each crowd having viewed thedisplay of each of the display devices 6 ascertains the predicted degreeof crowdedness in the goal area to which the crowd is going and changesthe current goal area to another area. This is because the level of thepredicted degree of crowdedness may be a motivation for changing themoving destination from the goal area to another area. Here, instead ofthe degree of crowdedness at that time, the predicted degree ofcrowdedness at the point in time when people having viewed the displayof the display device 6 will reach the goal area is presented.Therefore, according to the second exemplary embodiment, it is possibleto avoid a situation where the crowd recognizes the goal area beingcrowded after the crowd reaches the goal area, and to appropriatelyguide the crowd while preventing the crowdedness of a specific area inadvance.

Hereinafter, an example for describing the second exemplary embodimentin more detail will be described. However, the contents of theabove-described second exemplary embodiment are not limited to contentsof the following example.

Example 5

In Example 5, a portable terminal of a user is used as the displaydevice 6. The portable terminal used as the display device 6 is anordinary portable computer such as a laptop personal computer (PC), amobile phone, a smart phone, or a tablet terminal. In Example 5, theguidance processing apparatus 10 and each portable terminal arecommunicably connected to each other through a communication networksuch as a mobile phone line network, a Wi-Fi line network, or anInternet communication network.

In Example 5, the information acquisition unit 14 acquires positionalinformation and moving speed information of each portable terminal, andestimates the time required for each user holding the portable terminalto reach the goal area, using the acquired positional information andmoving speed information. The information acquisition unit 14 canacquire pieces of positional information and moving speed informationfrom other computers that collect the pieces of information fromportable terminals. Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 14can also directly acquire the pieces of information from the portableterminals. The moving speed information may be calculated by a sensormounted on the portable terminal or may be calculated using GlobalPositioning System (GPS).

In addition, the information acquisition unit 14 acquires positionalinformation of the goal area of each portable terminal. The informationacquisition unit 14 can display a screen for specifying the goal area oneach portable terminal and can detect a specifying operation at thescreen, and thereby determining the goal area. In a case where the goalarea is determined in advance, the information acquisition unit 14 mayacquire positional information of the goal area stored in the storageunit 13. The information acquisition unit 14 calculates the distancefrom the position of each portable terminal to the goal area and dividesthe distance by the moving speed to thereby calculate the time requiredfor the user holding the portable terminal to reach the goal area.Alternatively, when moving by train or the like, the informationacquisition unit 14 may recognize which train is got on from a change inpositional information, and may calculate the required time based on thearrival time at the destination (or the vicinity thereof) of the train.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires the predicted degree ofcrowdedness in the goal area at a point in time when each user willreach the goal area in the future, with respect to each portableterminal, on the basis of the predicted degree of crowdedness in thegoal area at any point in time acquired by the prediction unit 17 andthe required time calculated as described above.

The control unit 15 displays the predicted degrees of crowdedness of thegoal area on the respective portable terminals.

According to Example 5, it is possible to provide the predicted degreeof crowdedness in the goal area with a high level of accuracy inaccordance with the position and the moving speed of each individualperson of the crowd. Even when the goal area is different for eachindividual person, it is possible to provide the predicted degree ofcrowdedness in each goal area on each portable terminal. Therefore, itis possible to appropriately guide the crowd in accordance with thestate of each individual person.

Third Exemplary Embodiment

Hereinafter, the guidance system and the guidance method according tothe third exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to aplurality of drawings. Hereinafter, the third exemplary embodiment willbe described focusing on contents different from those described above,and the same contents as those described above will appropriately not berepeated. The following contents may be added to the contents describedabove or may be replaced with the contents described above.

In the following description, a plurality of monitored places capturedby the plurality of surveillance cameras 5 may be referred to as othernames as follows on the basis of the positional relationship betweenmonitored places. Another monitored place positioned in the vicinity ofa certain monitored place is referred to as peripheral area with respectto the certain monitored place, and the certain monitored place isreferred to as central area. A monitored place handled as central areain all monitored places may be all of the monitored places or may be aportion thereof.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an installation mode of surveillancecameras 5 and display devices 6 according to the third exemplaryembodiment. In the example of FIG. 12, an area AR1 is a monitored placehandled as the central area, and areas AR2 to AR4 are monitored placeshandled as the peripheral areas of the central area. A surveillancecamera 5 (#1) images the central area AR1, and surveillance cameras 5(#2) to 5 (#4) image the peripheral areas AR2 to AR4. The example ofFIG. 12 can be applied to theme parks and parks. For example, thecentral area AR1 is the place of popular attractions in a theme park,and the peripheral areas AR2 to AR4 are a portion of a route headed tothe popular attractions. In addition, the central area AR1 is the placeof popular play equipment in the park, and the peripheral areas AR2 toAR4 are places of unpopular play equipment.

In the third exemplary embodiment, the plurality of display devices 6are installed so as to include a display space including the monitoredplace handled as the peripheral area, as shown in the example of FIG.12. In the example of FIG. 12, each of the display devices 6 (#1) to 6(#3) includes a display space including a peripheral area.

Processing Configuration

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to thethird exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the guidance processingapparatus 10 further includes a determination unit 18 in addition to theconfiguration of the first exemplary embodiment. The determination unit18 is realized in the same manner as other processing units. In theexample of FIG. 13, the determination unit 18 is shown as a portion ofthe information acquisition unit 14, but may be realized as a processingunit which is separate from the information acquisition unit 14. Inaddition, FIG. 13 shows a configuration in which the determination unit18 is added to the processing configuration in the first exemplaryembodiment, but the determination unit 18 may be added to the processingconfiguration in the second exemplary embodiment.

An analysis unit 12 analyzes surveillance images to thereby acquire thedegree of crowdedness and the moving direction of a person with respectto respective monitored places (target areas). The analysis unit 12 mayacquire the degree of crowdedness with respect to each monitored placehandled as the central area, and may acquire the degree of crowdednessand the moving direction with respect to each monitored place handled asthe peripheral area of at least one central area. Methods of acquiringthe degree of crowdedness and the moving direction are as describedabove. However, since there is the possibility of a plurality of movingdirections being detected from the surveillance images, the analysisunit 12 can acquire the largest direction detected as the movingdirection of the surveillance images. In addition, the analysis unit 12can also acquire the number of people (the degree of crowdedness) foreach moving direction.

The storage unit 13 stores histories of the degree of crowdedness andthe moving direction acquired from the surveillance images captured bythe surveillance camera 5, in association with information indicatingthe monitored place of the surveillance camera 5. In addition, thestorage unit 13 stores information regarding a relationship between thecentral area and the peripheral area. According to the example of FIG.2, the storage unit 13 stores relationship information in which themonitored place AR2 and AR3 are handled as the peripheral areas withrespect to the monitored place AR1 handled as the central area, andstores relationship information in which the monitored places AR1, AR3,and AR4 handled as the peripheral areas with respect to the monitoredplace AR2 handled as the central area.

The determination unit 18 determines the degree of influence of eachperipheral area on the degree of crowdedness in a central area withrespect to each monitored place handled as the central area, on thebasis of histories of the degree of crowdedness and the moving directionstored in the storage unit 13. The wording “degree of influence”determined by the determination unit 18 means a degree at which peoplein each peripheral area have influence on the degree of crowdedness inthe central area due to the movement of the people. For example, thedetermination unit 18 calculates a correlation coefficient between thedegree of crowdedness in each peripheral area and the degree ofcrowdedness in the central area using only the degree of crowdednessstored together with the moving direction indicating a direction towardthe central area, in the history of the degree of crowdedness in theperipheral area. The determination unit 18 determines the degree ofinfluence of each peripheral area on the basis of the calculatedcorrelation coefficient. The determination unit 18 can use thecorrelation coefficient as the degree of influence as it is. The degreeof influence may be indicated by two values of the presence of influenceand the absence of influence, or may be indicated by three values. Amethod of calculating the degree of influence is not limited.

According to the example of FIG. 12, since moving directions of a largenumber of people who are present in the peripheral area AR3 are towardthe central area AR1, the degree of influence of the peripheral area AR3is determined to be lower than those of the peripheral areas AR2 andAR4.

The determination unit 18 sequentially updates the degrees of influenceof the respective peripheral areas with respect to the central areas. Inaddition, the determination unit 18 may update the degrees of influencewith a predetermined frequency, or may determine the degrees ofinfluence only once and then may not perform updating.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires a plurality of differentpieces of guidance information on the basis of the degrees of influenceof the respective peripheral areas which are determined by thedetermination unit 18. The information acquisition unit 14 generatesguidance information for suppressing the increase in the number ofpeople moving from the peripheral area with a high degree of influenceto the central area, for the peripheral area with a high degree ofinfluence. For example, in a case where the information acquisition unit14 detects the central area the degree of crowdedness of which exceeds apredetermined threshold value, the information acquisition unitgenerates guidance information for preventing people from moving towardthe central area with respect to the peripheral area with a high degreeof influence and a high degree of crowdedness, among peripheral areas ofthe central area. In this case, the information acquisition unit 14 maygenerate guidance information for guiding to another area other than thecentral area.

In addition, in a case where the predicted degree of crowdednessdescribed in the second exemplary embodiment is used as guidanceinformation, the information acquisition unit 14 may generate thepredicted degree of crowdedness increased in accordance with the levelof the degree of influence, as guidance information of each peripheralarea. The information acquisition unit 14 can also generate guidanceinformation including a display frequency corresponding to the degree ofinfluence of each peripheral area. For example, the informationacquisition unit 14 generates guidance information including a highdisplay frequency with respect to the peripheral area with a high degreeof influence.

The control unit 15 displays guidance information of the peripheral areaon the display device 6 including the peripheral area in a displayspace. In a case where the display frequency is included in guidanceinformation, the control unit 15 displays the guidance information onthe display device 6 at the display frequency.

Example of Operation/Guidance Method Hereinafter, the guidance methodaccording to the third exemplary embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 14. FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing an example ofoperation of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to the thirdexemplary embodiment. A subject of executing the guidance methodaccording to the third exemplary embodiment is the same as that in thefirst exemplary embodiment. Steps are the same as contents of processingof the above-described processing units included in the guidanceprocessing apparatus 10, and thus details of the steps willappropriately not be repeated here.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 previously stores informationregarding the monitored place handled as the central area and themonitored place (target area) handled as the peripheral area withrespect to each central area, as described above.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires surveillance imagescaptured by the surveillance cameras 5 (S131).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 analyzes the surveillance imagesacquired in (S131) to thereby acquire the degree of crowdedness and themoving direction in each target area (S132). A method of analyzing thesurveillance images and methods of acquiring the degree of crowdednessand the moving direction as the state of the crowd are as described inthe first exemplary embodiment.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 determines the degree of influenceof each peripheral area with respect to each central area on the basisof the history of the degree of crowdedness in the central area and thehistories of the degree of crowdedness and the moving direction of theperipheral area acquired in (S132) (S133).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 determines whether or not thereexists the central area with a high degree of crowdedness, on the basisof the degree of crowdedness in the target area handled as each centralarea acquired in (S132) (S134). For example, the guidance processingapparatus 10 determines whether or not there exists the target areaindicating the degree of crowdedness higher than the predeterminedthreshold value among the target areas handled as the central areas.

In a case where the central area with a high degree of crowdednessexists (S134; YES), the guidance processing apparatus 10 generatesguidance information with respect to peripheral areas of the centralarea (S135). The guidance processing apparatus 10 generates guidanceinformation for preventing people from moving from the peripheral areasto the central area. At this time, the guidance processing apparatus 10may generate guidance information for only the peripheral area with ahigh degree of crowdedness. In addition, the guidance processingapparatus 10 can also generate different pieces of guidance informationwith respect to the peripheral areas on the basis of the degrees ofcrowdedness and the degrees of influence of the peripheral areas. Inthis case, the guidance processing apparatus 10 may generate guidanceinformation with a stronger guiding force for the peripheral area with ahigher degree of crowdedness and a higher degree of influence. Theguidance processing apparatus 10 may include the display frequency ofguidance information in the guidance information.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 displays the guidance informationgenerated with respect to each peripheral area on the display device 6including the peripheral area in the display space (S136). In a casewhere the display frequency is included in the guidance information, theguidance processing apparatus 10 displays the guidance information onthe display device 6 at the display frequency.

In FIG. 14, a plurality of steps (processes) are shown in order, butsteps performed in the third exemplary embodiment and the order ofexecution of the steps are not limited to only those in the example ofFIG. 14. Step (S133) may be performed at any timing using the historiesof the degree of crowdedness and the moving direction which are storedin the storage unit 13, as a separate step from FIG. 14.

Advantageous Effects According to Third Exemplary Embodiment

As described above, in the third exemplary embodiment, the degree ofinfluence of each monitored place handled as the peripheral area withrespect to each monitored place handled as the central area isdetermined on the basis of the degree of crowdedness and the movingdirection of each monitored place which are obtained by analyzing thesurveillance images. Guidance information for each peripheral area isgenerated on the basis of the degree of influence with respect to thecentral area which is determined with respect to each peripheral area,and each of the display devices 6 including each peripheral area in thedisplay space displays the guidance information.

In this manner, in the third exemplary embodiment, guidance informationpresented to a certain area having influence on the degree ofcrowdedness in another area is generated in accordance with the level ofthe degree of influence of the certain area. According to the thirdexemplary embodiment, it is possible to efficiently suppress theincrease in the degree of crowdedness in a certain area on the basis ofguidance information presented to another area and to efficiently guidethe crowd.

Fourth Exemplary Embodiment

Hereinafter, the guidance system and the guidance method according tothe fourth exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to aplurality of drawings. Hereinafter, the fourth exemplary embodiment willbe described focusing on contents different from those described above,and the same contents as those described above will appropriately not berepeated. The following contents may be added to the contents describedabove or may be replaced with the contents described above.

Processing Configuration

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to thefourth exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 further includes a state monitoring unit 21 andan information changing unit 22 in addition to the configuration of thefirst exemplary embodiment. The state monitoring unit 21 and theinformation changing unit 22 are realized in the same manner as otherprocessing units. FIG. 15 shows a configuration in which the statemonitoring unit 21 and the information changing unit 22 are added to theprocessing configuration in the first exemplary embodiment, but theunits may be added to the processing configuration in the secondexemplary embodiment or the third exemplary embodiment.

The state monitoring unit 21 acquires a change condition of the state ofthe crowd based on time-series surveillance images captured afterguidance information is displayed on each display device 6.Specifically, the state monitoring unit 21 acquires a history of thestate of the crowd extracted by the analysis unit 12 from thetime-series surveillance images after the display of guidanceinformation, and acquires a change condition of the state of the crowdon the basis of the history. The history of the state of the crowd canalso be acquired from the storage unit 13. The state monitoring unit 21may acquire the change condition in which change and non-change areindicated by two values, and may acquire the change condition in whichthe degree of change is indicated by a numerical value. For example, thestate monitoring unit 21 acquires information indicating increase,decrease, and non-change in the degree of crowdedness as the changecondition.

The state monitoring unit 21 may acquire the change condition of thestate of the crowd with respect to only the monitored place (targetarea) in which the state of the crowd is influenced by the presentationof guidance information. Thereby, since the monitored place for whichthe change condition has to be acquired is limited, it is possible toreduce a processing load. Hereinafter, the monitored place (target area)in which the state of the crowd is influenced by the presentation ofguidance information will be referred to as control target area. Thegoal area in the second exemplary embodiment and the central area in thethird exemplary embodiment are equivalent to control target areas.

The information changing unit 22 changes at least a piece of guidanceinformation acquired by the information acquisition unit 14, on thebasis of the change condition acquired by the state monitoring unit 21.Change modes of guidance information may include a change in theguidance destination, the stop of guidance, the increase or the decreasein a guiding force, and the like. For example, in a case where the stateof the crowd does not change into a desired state after providing theguidance information in the control target area, the informationchanging unit 22 changes the guidance information into guidanceinformation with a stronger guiding force. On the contrary, in a casewhere the state of the crowd approaches to a desired state by providingguidance information, the information changing unit 22 may change theguidance information into guidance information with a weaker guidingforce. The increase or the decrease in the guiding force of guidanceinformation can be realized by, for example, the increase or thedecrease in the predicted degree of crowdedness, the display frequencyof the guidance information, and the like.

The control unit 15 displays at least one guidance information changedby the information changing unit 22 on the display device 6corresponding to the guidance information.

Example of Operation/Guidance Method

Hereinafter, the guidance method according to the fourth exemplaryembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is aflow chart showing an example of operation of the guidance processingapparatus 10 according to the fourth exemplary embodiment which isrelated to a change in guidance information. A subject of executing theguidance method according to the fourth exemplary embodiment is the sameas that in the first exemplary embodiment. Steps are the same ascontents of processing of the above-described processing units includedin the guidance processing apparatus 10, and thus details of the stepswill appropriately not be repeated here.

During the operation shown in FIG. 16, the guidance processing apparatus10 displays guidance information on at least one display device 6. Thestate of the crowd in the control target area is influenced by thepresentation of the guidance information.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires surveillance imagescaptured by respective surveillance cameras 5 (S161). The guidanceprocessing apparatus 10 sequentially acquires the surveillance images intime series. The acquired surveillance images include surveillanceimages obtained by capturing the control target area.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 analyzes the surveillance imagesacquired in (S161) to thereby acquire the state of the crowd in thetarget area (S162). The guidance processing apparatus 10 may acquireonly the state of the crowd in the control target area.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 acquires change conditions of thestate of the crowd in the control target area (S163).

The guidance processing apparatus 10 changes displayed guidanceinformation on the basis of the change condition acquired in (S163)(S164). The change mode of the guidance information is as describedabove.

The guidance processing apparatus 10 displays the changed guidanceinformation on the corresponding display device 6 (S165).

Advantageous Effects According to Fourth Exemplary Embodiment

In the fourth exemplary embodiment, the change condition of the state ofthe crowd in the control target area is acquired on the basis oftime-series surveillance images after the display of guidanceinformation, and guidance information is changed in accordance with thechange condition. In this manner, according to the fourth exemplaryembodiment, results of the guidance of the crowd by providing guidanceinformation are determined on the basis of the change condition of thestate of the crowd of the control target area, and the guidanceinformation is appropriately adjusted so that the state of the crowdchanges to the desired state. Therefore, it is possible to efficientlyguide the crowd so that the state of the crowd changes to the desiredstate.

Modification Example

In the above-described embodiments, the guidance processing apparatus 10(information acquisition unit 14) may acquire guidance informationfurther using environment condition information indicating conditions ofan environment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus 10 according to themodification example. As shown in FIG. 17, the guidance processingapparatus 10 further includes an environment acquisition unit 25 inaddition to the configuration of the first exemplary embodiment. Theenvironment acquisition unit 25 is realized in the same manner as otherprocessing units. FIG. 17 shows a configuration in which the environmentacquisition unit 25 is added to the processing configuration in thefirst exemplary embodiment.

The environment acquisition unit 25 acquires environment conditioninformation. The environment condition information may include weathercondition information (weather, warning, and the like) and weathercondition element information (temperature, humidity, and the like),abnormality information (delay of a train, accident, failure, naturaldisaster, and the like), and the like of, for example, a place in whichthere exists an object to be guided or a guidance destination. Inaddition, in a case where the crowd to be guided exists in an eventhall, the environment condition information includes win or loss at theevent, the contents of the event, and the like. The environmentacquisition unit 25 acquires such environment condition information fromanother system or service through communication.

The information acquisition unit 14 acquires guidance informationfurther using environment condition information acquired by theenvironment acquisition unit 25. According to Example 1, the informationacquisition unit 14 may determine the ticket vending machine to beprovided as guidance destination, using failure information of theticket vending machines in addition to the degree of crowdedness andproximity of the ticket vending machines. According to Example 2, theinformation acquisition unit 14 may generate guidance information bydistinguishing the seat sections for the winning team and the seatsections for the losing team from each other so that crowds in both theseat sections are not guided to the same guidance destination. Inaddition, in Example 4, guidance information may be generated so thatthe ticket gate connected to the passage that does not get wet by rainis preferentially handled as the guidance destination on a rainy day.

According to the modification example, it is possible to provideguidance information suitable for the desire of the crowd, therebymaking it easier for the crowd to follow the guidance information. As aresult, it is possible to appropriately guide the crowd.

Fifth Exemplary Embodiment

Hereinafter, the guidance processing apparatus and the guidance methodaccording to the fifth exemplary embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 18 and 19.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a processingconfiguration of the guidance processing apparatus according to thefifth exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 18, a guidance processingapparatus 100 includes an information acquisition unit 101 and a controlunit 102. The guidance processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 18 has thesame hardware configuration as that of, for example, the above-describedguidance processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1. However, the guidanceprocessing apparatus 100 may not be connected to surveillance cameras 5and display devices 6 so as to be capable of directly making an exchangewith each other. A program is processed in the same manner as that ofthe guidance processing apparatus 10 described above, thereby realizingprocessing units.

The information acquisition unit 101 acquires a plurality of differentpieces of guidance information on the basis of the states of a pluralityof people within one or more images. The information acquisition unit101 can extract the states of a plurality of people (crowd) from imagesby itself like the image acquisition unit 11 and the analysis unit 12described above. In addition, the information acquisition unit 101 canalso acquire information regarding the states of the plurality of peopleextracted by another computer from the another computer throughcommunication. The wording “states of the plurality of people” is thesame meaning as the state of the crowd described in the first exemplaryembodiment. In addition, the information acquisition unit 101 uses thestates of the plurality of people extracted from the image captured byone surveillance camera 5 or the plurality of images captured by aplurality of surveillance cameras 5. In the former case, guidanceinformation is acquired on the basis of the state of people present inone monitored place. In the latter case, guidance information isacquired on the basis of the state of people present in a plurality ofmonitored places.

The information acquisition unit 101 acquires guidance information bythe same method as those in the above-described exemplary embodiments.The information acquisition unit 101 can also select pieces of guidanceinformation for target devices on the basis of the states of theplurality of people among a plurality of pieces of guidance informationheld in advance. For example, the information acquisition unit 101 holdsguidance information indicating a first guidance destination andguidance information indicating a second guidance destination in advancefor a first target device, and holds guidance information indicating athird guidance destination and guidance information indicating a fourthguidance destination in advance for a second target device. In a casewhere the states of the plurality of people indicates a high degree ofcrowdedness, the information acquisition unit 101 acquires guidanceinformation indicating the second guidance destination for the firsttarget device and acquire guidance information indicating the fourthguidance destination for the second target device. On the contrary, in acase where the states of the plurality of people indicates a low degreeof crowdedness, the information acquisition unit 101 acquires guidanceinformation indicating the first guidance destination for the firsttarget device and acquires guidance information indicating the thirdguidance destination for the second target device.

The wording “guidance information” acquired by the informationacquisition unit 101 means not only information to be displayed but alsoany information for guiding people. Specific contents of guidanceinformation may vary depending on the target device to be controlled. Anexample of guidance information will be described below.

The control unit 102 performs the control of a plurality of targetdevices present in different spaces or the time division control of atarget device so as to set a plurality of different states correspondingto a plurality of pieces of guidance information. The target devicecontrolled by the control unit 102 is equivalent to various devicescapable of guiding people. In addition to the display devices 6 (auser's portable terminal is included) in the above-described exemplaryembodiments, a speaker, an illuminator, an air conditioner, an aromagenerator, a passage control device that controls the width of apassage, and the like are also equivalent to target devices. Also in theabove-described exemplary embodiments, such a target device may becontrolled by the guidance processing apparatus 10 instead of thedisplay device 6 or together with the display device 6. The control ofthe plurality of target devices and the time division control of thetarget device may be directly performed by the control unit 102, or maybe indirectly performed by the control unit 102 through another device.

In a case where the target device is the display device 6, the controlunit 102 controls the target devices (display devices 6) so as to becomea state in which pieces of guidance information are displayed, similarto the above-described exemplary embodiments. The control of the displaydevice 6 is realized by the transmission of drawing data or guidanceinformation to the display device 6. The guidance information mayinclude the designation of display modes such as a display frequency, adisplay size, and a display color. In a case where such designation isincluded in the guidance information, the control unit 102 controls thetarget devices so that the guidance information is displayed in thedisplay mode designated by the guidance information.

In a case where the target device is a speaker, the control unit 102controls target devices (speakers) so as to become a state where voicesor sounds corresponding to pieces of guidance information are output.The control unit 102 can acquire pieces of voice data or pieces of sounddata corresponding to pieces of guidance information and can transmitthe acquired pieces of voice data or pieces of sound data to therespective target devices, thereby realizing the control of the targetdevices. In this case, guidance information acquired by the informationacquisition unit 101 is equivalent to voice identification informationfor identifying voice data or sound data, or is equivalent to the voicedata or the sound data itself. In a case where sounds are output fromthe speakers, speakers installed at a guidance destination and a passageto the guidance destination output relaxing music, and speakersinstalled at passages in the other places output noise, thereby allowingthe crowd to be guided in the direction of the guidance destination. Inaddition, in a case where the crowd is desired to stay in a certainplace (a flow rate to the destination is desired to be decreased) inorder to alleviate crowdedness conditions, the control unit 102 may playmusic for promoting the crowd to stay at a midway passage which attractsthe crowd.

In a case where the target device is an illuminator, the control unit102 controls target devices (speakers) so as to satisfy at least one ofthe color and brightness corresponding to pieces of guidanceinformation. In this case, guidance information acquired by theinformation acquisition unit 101 is equivalent to illuminatorinstruction information (illuminator instruction signal) for designatingat least one of the color and brightness of the illuminator.Illuminators installed at a guidance destination and a passage to theguidance destination are set to be bright, and illuminators installed atpassages in the other places are set to be dark, thereby allowing thecrowd to be guided in the direction of the guidance destination. Inaddition, in a case where the crowd is desired to stay in a certainplace in order to alleviate crowdedness conditions, the control unit 102may brighten only the portion.

In a case where the target device is an air conditioner (an air blower,a mist generator, a stove, an electric heater, and the like are alsoincluded), the control unit 102 controls target devices (airconditioners) so as to satisfy at least one of temperature, humidity,the strength of wind, and the direction of wind corresponding to piecesof guidance information. In this case, guidance information acquired bythe information acquisition unit 101 is equivalent to air conditioninginstruction information (air conditioning instruction signal) fordesignating temperature, humidity, the strength of wind, the directionof wind, and the like. On a hot summer day, air conditioners installedat a guidance destination and a passage of the guidance destination areset to a low temperature and a low humidity, and air conditionersinstalled at passages in the other places are stopped, thereby allowingthe crowd to be guided in the direction of the guidance destination. Ina case where the crowd is desired to stay in a certain place in order toalleviate crowdedness conditions, the control unit 102 may operate anair conditioning in that place to increase comfortability.

In a case where the target device is an aroma generator, the controlunit 102 controls target devices (aroma generators) so as to become astate where an aroma corresponding to guidance information is generated.In this case, guidance information acquired by the informationacquisition unit 101 is equivalent to aroma instruction information(aroma instruction signal) for designating an aroma to be generated.Aroma generators installed at a guidance destination and a passage tothe guidance destination generate an aroma that people like, and aromagenerators installed at passages in the other places generate an aromathat people dislike, thereby allowing the crowd to be guided in thedirection of the guidance destination. In a case where the crowd isdesired to stay in a certain place in order to alleviate crowdednessconditions, the control unit 102 may generate an aroma attracting thecrowd at that place.

In a case where the target device is a passage control device, thecontrol unit 102 controls target devices (passage control devices) sothat a passage controlled by the passage control device has a widthcorresponding to guidance information. In this case, guidanceinformation acquired by the information acquisition unit 101 isequivalent to passage width instruction information (passage widthinstruction signal) for designating the width of a passage. The width ofa guidance destination and the width of a passage of the guidancedestination are set to be wide or a normal width by the passage controldevices, and the widths of passages in the other places are set to benarrow, thereby allowing the crowd to be guided in a direction of theguidance destination. In addition, in a case of a passage controldevice, such as a pole or a partition, which is capable of adjusting thelength of a passage instead of the width, the control unit 102 maychange the length of the passage.

The time division control of the target devices performed by the controlunit 102 means that the states of the target devices are switched todifferent states corresponding to a plurality of pieces of guidanceinformation with time. For example, in a case where the pieces ofguidance information are expressed or uttered in different languages,the control unit 102 sequentially outputs the pieces of guidanceinformation to the display device 6 or a speaker in a changeover manner.For example, in a case where the crowd having a plurality ofnationalities is guided, the information acquisition unit 101 acquirespieces of guidance information differing in a guidance method for eachlanguage. The control unit 102 controls speakers so that voices utteredin languages corresponding to the pieces of guidance information areoutput in time series. Specifically, a voice announcement for guidanceto an exit A is output in Chinese, a voice announcement for guidance toan exit B is output in Korean, and then a voice announcement forguidance to an exit C is output in Japanese. Thereby, it is possible toguide the crowd for each nationality. In this case, the informationacquisition unit 101 may acquire guidance information corresponding tothe state of people (the number of people and the like) for eachnationality as the state of a plurality of people. Thereby, it ispossible to perform guidance control of first guiding the crowd havingthe nationality for which the number of people is small and then guidingthe crowd having the nationality for which the number of people islarge.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing an example of operation of the guidanceprocessing apparatus 100 according to the fifth exemplary embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 19, the guidance method according to the fifth exemplaryembodiment is performed by at least one computer such as the guidanceprocessing apparatus 100. For example, steps shown in the drawing areperformed by processing units included in the guidance processingapparatus 100.

The guidance method according to the fifth exemplary embodiment includesacquiring a plurality of different pieces of guidance information on thebasis of the states of a plurality of people within one or more images(S191), performing control of a plurality of target devices present indifferent spaces or the time division control of a target device so asto set a plurality of different states corresponding to the plurality ofpieces of guidance information (S192). Step (S191) is equivalent to(S54) of FIG. 5, (S116) of FIG. 11, (S135) of FIG. 14, and the like.Step (S192) is equivalent to (S55) of FIG. 5, (S117) of FIG. 11, (S136)of FIG. 17, and the like.

According to the fifth exemplary embodiment, it is possible to obtainthe same operational effects as those in the above-described exemplaryembodiments.

Note that, in a plurality of flowcharts used in the above description, aplurality of steps (processes) are described in order, but the order ofexecution of steps performed in the exemplary embodiments is not limitedto the order in the description. In the exemplary embodiments, the orderof steps shown in the drawings can be changed without a disadvantage interms of content. In addition, the above-described exemplary embodimentsand modification examples can be combined with each other in a range inwhich the contents thereof are not contrary to each other.

Some or all of the above-described exemplary embodiments andmodification examples can be specified as follows. However, theabove-described exemplary embodiments and modification examples are notlimited to the following description.

1. A guidance processing apparatus including:

an information acquisition unit acquiring a plurality of differentpieces of guidance information on the basis of states of a plurality ofpeople within one or more images; and

a control unit performing control of a plurality of target devicespresent in different spaces or time division control of a target deviceso as to set a plurality of different states corresponding to theplurality of pieces of guidance information.

2. The guidance processing apparatus according to 1, further including:

a state monitoring unit acquiring change conditions of states of aplurality of people based on time-series images captured after thecontrol of the plurality of target devices or the time division controlof the target device is performed; and

an information changing unit changing at least one of the plurality ofpieces of guidance information on the basis of the change conditions,

wherein the control unit changes the control of the target devicecorresponding to the changed at least one piece of guidance information.

3. The guidance processing apparatus according to 1 or 2, furtherincluding:

an environment acquisition unit acquiring environment conditioninformation indicating conditions of an environment,

wherein the information acquisition unit acquires a plurality of piecesof guidance information further using the environment conditioninformation.

4. The guidance processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3,further including:

an analysis unit analyzing a plurality of images obtained by capturingdifferent target areas to thereby acquire states of a plurality ofpeople in each of the target areas,

wherein the information acquisition unit generates pieces of guidanceinformation corresponding to a positional relationship between thetarget areas, between the spaces corresponding to the plurality oftarget devices, or between each of the spaces and each of the targetareas on the basis of the states of the plurality of people in each ofthe target areas, and

wherein the control unit sets each of the plurality of target devices tobe in a state corresponding to the pieces of guidance information.

5. The guidance processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4,further including:

an analysis unit analyzing an image obtained by capturing a first targetarea to thereby acquire a degree of crowdedness of people in the firsttarget area, and analyzing an image obtained by capturing a secondtarget area directed to the first target area to thereby acquire a flowrate of people in the second target area,

wherein the information acquisition unit includes a prediction unitacquiring a predicted degree of crowdedness of people in the firsttarget area at any point in time on the basis of the degree ofcrowdedness in the first target area and the flow rate in the secondtarget area which are acquired by the analysis unit, and acquires apredicted degree of crowdedness in the first target area at a point intime when people present in each of the spaces reach the first targetarea in the future, as the guidance information with respect to each ofthe spaces, using a time required for people to move from each of thespaces corresponding to a plurality of output devices to the firsttarget area and the predicted degree of crowdedness, and

wherein the control unit outputs the predicted degree of crowdedness inthe first target area, which is acquired with respect to each of thespaces corresponding to the plurality of output devices, to each of theoutput devices.

6. The guidance processing apparatus according to 5,

wherein the plurality of output devices are a plurality of portableterminals,

wherein the information acquisition unit acquires pieces of positionalinformation and pieces of moving speed information regarding theplurality of portable terminals, estimates times required for usersholding the respective portable terminals to reach the first target areausing the pieces of positional information and the pieces of movingspeed information, and acquires a the predicted degree of crowdedness inthe first target area at a point in time when each of the users reachesthe first target area in the future, with respect to each of theplurality of portable terminals, and

wherein the control unit displays the predicted degree of crowdedness inthe first target area on each of the plurality of portable terminals.

7. The guidance processing apparatus according to 5,

wherein the information acquisition unit increases the predicted degreeof crowdedness in the first target area which is acquired with respectto each of the spaces corresponding to the plurality of output deviceson the basis of the flow rate in the second target area, and acquiresthe increased predicted degree of crowdedness as the guidanceinformation.

8. The guidance processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 7,further including:

an analysis unit analyzing an image obtained by capturing a target areato thereby acquire a degree of crowdedness of people in the target area,and analyzing a plurality of images obtained by capturing a plurality ofperipheral areas of the target area to thereby acquire a degree ofcrowdedness and a moving direction of people in each of the peripheralareas,

wherein the information acquisition unit includes a determination unitdetermining degrees of influence of the plurality of peripheral areas onthe degree of crowdedness in the target area on the basis of the degreesof crowdedness and the moving directions in the plurality of peripheralareas, and acquires a plurality of different pieces of guidanceinformation on the basis of the degrees of influence of the plurality ofperipheral areas.

9. A guidance method performed by at least one computer, the guidancemethod including:

acquiring a plurality of different pieces of guidance information on thebasis of states of a plurality of people within one or more images; and

performing control of a plurality of target devices present in differentspaces or time division control of a target device so as to set aplurality of different states corresponding to the plurality of piecesof guidance information.

10. The guidance method according to 9, further including:

acquiring change conditions of states of a plurality of people based ontime-series images captured after the control of the plurality of targetdevices or the time division control of the target device is performed;

changing at least one of the plurality of pieces of guidance informationon the basis of the change conditions; and

changing the control of the target device corresponding to the changedat least one piece of guidance information.

11. The guidance method according to 9 or 10, further including:

acquiring environment condition information indicating conditions of anenvironment,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes acquiring aplurality of pieces of guidance information further using theenvironment condition information.

12. The guidance method according to any one of 9 to 11, furtherincluding:

analyzing a plurality of images obtained by capturing different targetareas to thereby acquire states of a plurality of people in each of thetarget areas,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes generatingpieces of guidance information corresponding to a positionalrelationship between the target areas, between the spaces correspondingto the plurality of target devices, or between each of the spaces andeach of the target areas on the basis of the states of the plurality ofpeople in each of the target areas, and

wherein the control of the target device includes setting each of theplurality of target devices to be in a state corresponding to the piecesof guidance information.

13. The guidance method according to any one of 9 to 12, furtherincluding:

analyzing an image obtained by capturing a first target area to therebyacquire a degree of crowdedness of people in the first target area, andanalyzing an image obtained by capturing a second target area directedto the first target area to thereby acquire a flow rate of people in thesecond target area; and

acquiring a predicted degree of crowdedness of people in the firsttarget area at any point in time on the basis of the degree ofcrowdedness in the first target area and the flow rate in the secondtarget area,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes acquiring apredicted degree of crowdedness in the first target area at a point intime when people present in each of the spaces reach the first targetarea in the future, as the guidance information with respect to each ofthe spaces, using a time required for people to move from each of thespaces corresponding to a plurality of output devices to the firsttarget area and the predicted degree of crowdedness, and

wherein the control of the target device includes outputting thepredicted degree of crowdedness in the first target area, which isacquired with respect to each of the spaces corresponding to theplurality of output devices, to each of the output devices.

14. The guidance method according to 13,

wherein the plurality of output devices are a plurality of portableterminals,

wherein the guidance method further includes:

acquiring pieces of positional information and pieces of moving speedinformation regarding the plurality of portable terminals; and

estimating times required for users holding the respective portableterminals to reach the first target area using the pieces of positionalinformation and the pieces of moving speed information,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes acquiring apieces of positional information and pieces of moving speed informationof the first target area at a point in time when each of the usersreaches the first target area in the future, with respect to each of theplurality of portable terminals, and

wherein the control of the target device includes displaying thepredicted degree of crowdedness in the first target area on each of theplurality of portable terminals.

15. The guidance method according to 13,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes increasingthe predicted degree of crowdedness in the first target area which isacquired with respect to each of the spaces corresponding to theplurality of output devices on the basis of the flow rate in the secondtarget area, and acquiring the increased predicted degree of crowdednessas the guidance information.

16. The guidance method according to any one of 9 to 15, furtherincluding:

analyzing an image obtained by capturing a target area to therebyacquire a degree of crowdedness of people in the target area, andanalyzing a plurality of images obtained by capturing a plurality ofperipheral areas of the target area to thereby acquire a degree ofcrowdedness and a moving direction of people in each of the peripheralareas; and

determining degrees of influence of the plurality of peripheral areas onthe degree of crowdedness in the target area on the basis of the degreesof crowdedness and the moving directions in the plurality of peripheralareas,

wherein the acquiring of the guidance information includes acquiring aplurality of different pieces of guidance information on the basis ofthe degrees of influence of the plurality of peripheral areas.

17. A guidance processing apparatus including:

an information acquisition unit generating guidance information on thebasis of crowdedness conditions of people in a plurality of imagesobtained by capturing a plurality of monitored places, the monitoredplaces, and a plurality of places provided with target devices; and

a control unit controlling the target devices in the plurality of placesin accordance with the guidance information.

18. A guidance method performed by at least one computer, the guidancemethod including:

generating guidance information on the basis of crowdedness conditionsof people in a plurality of images obtained by capturing a plurality ofmonitored places, the monitored places, and a plurality of placesprovided with target devices; and

controlling the target devices in the plurality of places in accordancewith the guidance information.

19. A program causing at least one computer to perform the guidancemethod according to any one of 9 to 16 and 18.

20. A computer-readable recording medium having the program according to19 stored thereon.

The application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-134664filed on Jun. 30, 2014, the content of which is incorporated herein byreference.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A guidance processing system comprising: at leastone memory storing instructions; at least one processor executing theinstructions to perform: analyzing a plurality of images including aplurality of first areas where a queue waiting for use of aninstallation exists; acquiring, based on an analyzing result, waitingtime of the queue at each of the first areas; acquiring guidanceinformation associated with each of the first areas, wherein theguidance information includes the waiting time of the queue; andoutputting the guidance information to a display apparatus correspondingto at least one the first areas, wherein the guidance information guidespeople to suspend or move from one of the first areas to another of thefirst areas.
 20. The guidance processing system according to claim 19,wherein the guidance information guides the people to move to one of thefirst areas that is relatively uncrowded.
 21. The guidance processingsystem according to claim 20, wherein the guidance information indicatesa crowdedness condition of the first area.
 22. The guidance processingsystem according to claim 19, wherein the display apparatus is placed ina second area where people who move to the first area pass through anddisplays the guidance information corresponding to the first area for aperson who exists in the second area.
 23. A guidance method performed byat least one computer, the guidance method comprising: analyzing aplurality of images including a plurality of first areas where a queuewaiting for use of an installation exists; acquiring, based on ananalyzing result, waiting time of the queue at each of the first areas;acquiring a guidance information associated with each of the firstareas, wherein the guidance information includes the waiting time of thequeue; and outputting the guidance information to a display apparatuscorresponding to at least one the first areas, wherein the guidanceinformation guides people to suspend or move from one of the first areasto another of the first areas.
 24. The guidance method according toclaim 23, wherein the guidance information guides the people to move toone of the first areas that is relatively uncrowded.
 25. The guidancemethod according to claim 24, wherein the guidance information indicatesa crowdedness condition of the first area.
 26. The guidance methodaccording to claim 23, wherein the display apparatus is placed in asecond area where people who move to the first area pass through anddisplays the guidance information corresponding to the first area for aperson who exists in the second area.
 27. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium storing a program causing at least one computerto perform a guidance method comprising: analyzing a plurality of imagesincluding a plurality of first areas where a queue waiting for use of aninstallation exists; acquiring, based on an analyzing result, waitingtime of the queue at each of the first areas; acquiring a guidanceinformation associated with each of the first areas, wherein theguidance information includes the waiting time of the queue; andoutputting the guidance information to a display apparatus correspondingto at least one the first areas, wherein the guidance information guidespeople to suspend or move from one of the first areas to another of thefirst areas.
 28. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumaccording to claim 27, wherein the guidance information guides thepeople to move to one of the first areas that is relatively uncrowded.29. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according toclaim 28, wherein the guidance information indicates a crowdednesscondition of the first area.
 30. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium according to claim 27, wherein the display apparatus isplaced in a second area where people who move to the first area passthrough and displays the guidance information corresponding to the firstarea for a person who exists in the second area.